It’s been stated on many occasions that Mortal Kombat X will feature more new characters than any previous Mortal Kombat video game. At the moment, NetherRealm Studios revealed four of those new characters: Cassie Cage, D’Vorah, Ferra/Torr and Kotal Kahn. With so many new characters, some of the fan favorite classic characters are bound to be cut. The question is, can these new characters replace any fan favorites, and how well do they fit into the general gameplay of the Mortal Kombat series?
With three fighting variants per character, it’s difficult to classify the newcomers simply because each fighting style can vary drastically from the others. However, all three variants share a basic set of attacks, and each character still retains a general play style such as zoning or rushdown. Let’s take a look at the four newcomers to see where they fit in and who they might replace.
As the daughter of Johnny Cage and Sonya Blade, it seems likely that NetherRealm intends to replace one if not both classic characters. Cassie’s Hollywood fighting style partially mimics that of Johnny Cage, while her Spec Ops variant is Sonya’s fighting style with a bit more zoning. The Brawler fighting styles gives her a more up close and personal attack style that’s probably more Sonya than anything else, but still feels very new.
Our best guess is that Sonya is out of the picture. Cassie seems to be a fitting replacement for the first lady of Mortal Kombat, but she doesn’t mimic Johnny Cage’s trademark fighting style nearly as well. She can zone, but her zoning tools are in the Spec Ops variant, which is more akin to Sonya than Johnny. She basically feels like Sonya Blade with more zoning options in two of her three fighting styles.
As we examined each combatant in Mortal Kombat 9, it quickly became clear that the most obvious character is exactly who D’Vorah may replace. D’Vorah fights with the help of various insects, and while it’s a small stretch, this is closer to Reptile than any other character from the previous game. But that’s not what makes D’Vorah a probable replacement for Reptile. Her fighting styles loosely mimic Reptile’s fighting style in MK9.
The Brood Mother variant allows her to place a bug on the ground or throw a bug towards an opponent. Once the bug is out, D’Vorah can use it to create frame traps. That sounds a bit like Reptile’s Force Ball applications. Add to that the poison abilities of the Venomous fighting style, and it could be a loose replacement for Reptile’s Acid Spit.
Of course, this isn’t a 1:1 replacement, but again, a lot of classic characters are going to be cut from Mortal Kombat X, and D’Vorah’s fighting style and general characteristics make her a decent replacement for Reptile. She’s a rushdown character that relies heavily on frame traps and can poison an opponent to slowly chip away at their health.
Ferra/Torr is not only one of the more unique characters in Mortal Kombat X, the pair don’t seem to be proper replacements for any existing characters. All three fighting styles vary quite a bit, with Ruthless giving Ferra/Torr a damage boost at the cost of health, Vicious being more zoning-based with multiple projectiles and Lackey turning the character into a grappler. Even loose comparisons to the cast of MK9 don’t pull up any alarming similarities.
It’s fairly safe to assume that this character wasn’t created to replace anyone. However, they may appeal to multiple play styles. This is one of the first characters who seems to play very differently depending on which fighting variant you choose. If you’re a fan of grapplers such as Solomon Grundy from Injustice: Gods Among Us, the Lackey fighting style should be right up your alley. If you prefer zoning, you have Vicious, and if you’d rather just play a unique rushdown style, go with Ruthless.
While at first glance it seems obvious that Kotal Kahn is somehow related to Shao Kahn, the classic boss character hasn’t been playable in many MK titles and Kotal doesn’t have much that resembles how the boss played, aside from the fact that he uses a weapon in the War God fighting style. Very, very loose comparisons can be made to Quan Chi when we examine Kotal’s Sun God fighting variant. It’s a bit of a stretch, but the totems are somewhat similar to Qua Chi’s Rune traps.
When it comes down to it, Kotal Kahn not only feels like a new character, he also feels like a character archetype that has rarely been seen in the Mortal Kombat series. Kotal battles by buffing himself up with various attacks. He must land specific special moves to increase his abilities, which are then reset when certain other abilities are used.
For example, every time Kahn connects with a Choke Slam in the Sun God variant, he gains one level and increases his damage. He also has the ability to heal himself, but doing so uses all of the levels he’s gained up until that point. It’s a new kind of meter management that’s rarely seen in Mortal Kombat games, and should offer a new play style for long-time fans and newcomers alike.
